Earlier this month, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) announced a collaboration with the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) to create a more seamless credit-reporting experience for family physicians. The new process will allow AAFP members to use the AAFP as a one-stop shop for all of their Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit reporting needs.
It is hoped that this new process will make it easier for providers to claim their credit for performance improvement CME activities with both the AAFP and the ABFM.
The AAFP – as one of the nation’s three CME accrediting bodies – will work with CME provider organizations that wish to have their CME activities (including performance improvement activities) certified for AAFP Prescribed and/or Elective credit. CME providers can seek approval for those activities through the AAFP Credit System.
The AAFP and ABFM are currently working together to allow CME providers to apply for AAFP Performance Improvement CME Credit and ABFM Certification Activity credit for their performance improvement activities through the AAFP Credit System using a single application process. Starting in October, CME providers who apply for dual credit using the new unified process will no longer have to pay an additional fee for ABFM Certification Activity credit approval.
In addition to meeting AAFP performance improvement activity requirements, to be eligible to receive Certification Activity credit from the ABFM, each performance improvement activity must comply with the ABFM’s Industry Support Policy and meet the ABFM Requirements for Performance Improvement activities, and the provider must agree to periodic audits by the ABFM.
From the physician-learner’s perspective, the unified process means that ABFM diplomates will have more performance improvement activities to choose from. In addition, when the physician reports CME credit for a dually approved performance improvement activity to the AAFP, the ABFM will automatically be notified that the performance improvement certification activity has been completed.
The AAFP was created as a national professional association to protect the rights of general practitioners, and is the oldest national CME accreditor. Each year, the AAFP produces over 100 CME activities, including the Family Medicine Experience, live events, as well as journal and online CME sessions that are designed for family physicians with input from members. AAFP also reviews more than 3,000 activities from about 1,300 different organizations for accreditation annually to ensure they meet the needs of family physicians.